Safety elevated bank and vault protector



Oct. 6, 1931. w. GILLIS SAFETY ELEVATED BANK AND VAULT PROTECTOR FiledJune 5. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR. Wilham Guns d A TTO EY.

Oct. 6,1931. w. GILLIS SAFETY ELEVATED BANK AND VAULT PROTECTOR FiledJune 5. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. Z iZZi am GiZZ'z'a I JATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 6, 1 931 LSZGAG-a pw 'IIaIiIAM GIL'LIS, or FORT WORTH,TEXAS .7 sA n'rrniiEvArnn BANK AND VAULT rno'rnc'ron Application filedJune 5, 1929. Serial No. 368,703.

This invention relates to a device for bank protection against robberyand more particularly 'to an elevated structure with a stair- Tf'waywhich can be raised out of reach and thereby shut ofi the access to thebank vault.

' J In brief the device consists of an elevated cage to accommodateseveral clerks. This cage is placedadjacent'the door .of the bank f''vault sothat entrance to the vault door can only be had throughtheelevated cage. Pivotally attachedto the cage is a stairway which canbe raised when any danger due to a holdup arises so that the exit to thebank vault '7 will be shut off.- The walls of the cage are preferablymade of armored steel and provided with openings so the crew within the1 cage can fireupon the hold-up men when any such emergency arises.Placed within the cage is a winch to which 2 is attached the end of thecable for raising or lowering the stairway. A system of sig- "naling isprovided operable from the main floor to indicate to the crew of thecage when i to raise or lower the stairway and when to be cautious. 7

Other objects of the invention will appear as the disclosure progresses.The drawings areintended merely to indicate a possible i W embodiment ofthe invention. It is therefore not intended to'limit the invention tothe embodiment illustratedbutrather'to define such limits in theappended claims. For a more general understanding of the inventionattention is now called to the drawings. In these drawings likereference characters denote like parts throughout the sepecification.

In thedrawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device. Figure 2 isa front elevation. Figure 3 is a top view thereof. I Figure 4 is adetail view of the the cable removed and Figure 5 is a wiring diagram.Referring now tothe drawings in detail numeral 1 designates the cagelarge enough to accommodate several clerks supported on I the pedestal 2high enough to be out of the reach of any person. a v, Pivoted to thebrackets 3 at the bottom of the cage is a stairway 4. At the bottom ofwinch with the stairway is attached one end of a cable 5 which leads toa manually operated winch 6 placed within the cage. 2

The cage 1 is preferably placed against the wall 7 of the bank'vaultentrance door. Cut in the floor 9 and side 10 of the cage are lookoutslots 11 through which the men in the cage can fire their pistols orguns. Inaddition to these slots lookout doors 12 placed waist high areprovided in the walls of the eage The winch 6 comprises a drum' '13keyed tothe shaft 14 and is supported in the bearings 15which arefastened to the wall of the cage. At the end of the shaft 14 is a crankhandle 16 for manually operating the winch. Attached to the drum 13 isthe end of the cable 5. Cut in the fiange'17 of the winch drum is aratchet 18 which engages with the pawl 19. The pawl is pivoted on theshaft 20 which is partly threaded as at 21 and is supported by theinternally threaded bearing 22 attached to the wall of the cag Keyed tothe shaft 20 on both sides of the pawl 19 are collars 23. At theopposite end of the shaft is a handle 24. The operation of the winch isas follows When it is desired to raise thestair the handle 16 ofthewinch is revolved anti-clockwise. This will cause the cable 5 to windup on the drum 6 and lift the stair on the pivoting support 3. The pawl19 will'successively come in contact with the teeth of the ratchet andprevent theback windingofthe cable. ,When it is desired to lower thestair it will not be necessary to give same a preliminary lift so as todisengagethe pawl from the ratchet as is the practice in the usual formof winches but all that would be required would be to revolve the handle24 and the pawl will move to the left out of engagement with the ratchetas indicated in Figure 4. The stairway could then be lowered.

easier manner. In addition means are proenergy. Thisfmeans'consists of abalance to raise or lower the s tairwayQThesail cage as shown in Flgureh v the electric bulbs are-s i1ita]qle conductors 33; 34and*which-connect' toelectric switches 3.6, 37-and 38 placedconvenientlyfon theliilain .floor 055 the bank. The electric b u'lbarea-1 ored""'whit e, red and yellow respectively. p I

' When fihes'witch 36 is closed the red c olo'liie'da'counterbalanceattached vided to balance thev stair on itsv pivoting points so as tooperate the stair without much weight 26 supported by the arm 27 whichis attached to the sta1rway4. The arm is long I enough in order to bringthe weight to the left I of the stair pivots as shown in Figure 1 andcounterbalance the weight of the sta rway At the head ofthe stairway isa door 28 V which provides egress and ingressto and from w the cage. Thewalls of thecagefareiprefer ablymade of armour plate and held togetherbythe angle irons 29 at the'corners.

Signaling means are provided to indicate a to the crew of the cageoperable from the onsis .of a Ser es f a e "s or-hulhs 30, 31 and 32'placed'vv g Y Leading from biilb' a2'wiiii ht up aria "indicate,"danger' tawks beeiiaedamm 'diately. When "the switch 37 is closed thelwhite colored bums-1 wi l light up andind'ithecage havin h-in the i itsaidstairway pivotedwh'ere joins the cage, a winch including a pawland'ratchet w thin g a cable attached'thereto, the

opposite end of the cable attached to the lower end of the saidstairway, a roller attached to the outside of said cage overwhich V catethat ale ammy s e-111a be flowered.

"It will thusheseenthatTI have p rbvided a" simple and efficient meansprotect the funds iof a ban]; from-theft In thlvht of aihold-up thestairway can he raised yvhh the-signal indicatessuc'h action mattin shutoil-the access tothelvault; Also jthep orthdles b Mme ih a aan me w e 1suchactionbecomesnecessary. M i

- 'jl-Iaving described im'ren tion',LI claim 2 1. "In "a device" of thecla sgs descrihe d in v Thefw'lnchiis in the interiorof thecage so thest 1r l' t o erated in pared-satay." The stai r' is terbal-anqe d tor,ease'of'oper ationf V Whenfthesvvitch SS isflclosed the yel'lo w 'clored 8O "will light upand indicatecau- "tion.-N11Ineral'c39indicates"theljatteryf a; pedestal, a 3 stairway leading'tofsaid f cage, said stairway pivoted where it oins'the V an" elongatedarmaasteaeu te said; ay, llFlQ Q T gated arm, ithe vertical axis orstairway, a ewinch withintheicageihaving a in 1;so -a ip vpapea aarecable z tttat':hedithereto; the oppiesitg'ender f said'cable attachedto'the lower end oit the said stairway, said winch including a pawl :1 aamchet-anafmeans todisengageithegpawl from the-ratchet'hy'moving saidpawl-side- Ways 'outotengagement with said ratchet; 2. In a device ofthe class described in con' r-hinati-on,-:an elevated cagesupported on YY iazpefdestal, a.stairwayuleadingito;saldtz g

